Wilwohl Rises



Kayla Wilwohl's trading card
in the 2011 State Finals.

The clock winds down. 46 seconds left. The Mercyhurst Lady Lakers are down by three points to the Villa Victors, a rival basketball game being held at Mercyhurst University to a sold out crowd of 1,600 people. The Lakers run a play to try and score, but the play doesn’t work. Kayla Wilwohl, a senior shooting guard for the Lakers, has the ball in her hands. 37 seconds left. She shoots from outside of the three point line and scores. Tie Game! Overtime!  The Lakers pull out the win 45-39.

The Mercyhurst Lady Lakers
head basketball coach, Dan Perfetto.

Wilwohl scored a game high, 20 points in the Lakers win over the Villa Victors. "Her shot generated a lot of excitement; we knew that she was going to have to score in that game. It was a broken down play, and Kayla being the senior she is stepped up and made a play. After that shot, you could see we had a little pep in our step in overtime," Dan Perfetto, The Mercyhurst head basketball coach said. Not only did Wilwohl have an impact on that game, but she has impacted every game throughout the entire season, in spite of a prior shoulder injury.

After four shoulder separations, Wilwohl stepped up for the Lakers to make big plays in big games. It wasn’t like that at first. “My first game back I was scared and that’s completely changed I’m actually kind of fearless now.” Wilwohl said. “This is my last year as a senior and I got to go all or nothing. I’m hoping that (my shoulder) will stay in and thus far it has.” Wilwohl is focusing on her senior year and thinking about her future.

Wilwohl will attend Allegheny College in the fall. Where she plans to study pre-med. She also plans to play basketball. “I think going D-III and being able to still do school and everything it’s perfect, and I’m still close enough to my family.” Wilwohl said.

The Merychurst Lady Lakers 2011-2012 basketball team

After seeing what she can do for her team and coaches through a tough senior year, Wilwohl fell back in love with the one thing she never truly wanted to give up; basketball. Finishing her senior year as one of the tops players for Mercyhurst, Wilwohl will pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, as well as play basketball for Allegheny College in the fall.